Pride and Prices
by Camillia Sin
Summary: Rumbelle AU. Belle backstory This is what happens when they only give us 30 minutes of character development. Belle is a genius given to dangerous research and surrounded by people who don't understand her. Raised with her illegitimate sister to be fiercely independent despite constant pressure to ignore her potential. How does she learn to love a man like Rumplestiltskin?
1. Chapter 1 A Good Day to Die

** Chapter One **

Belle walked out of her father's throne room for what she knew was the last time, Rumplestiltskin's hand at her waist, guiding her gently from the room.

"Will you permit me an hour to set my affairs in order?" Belle asked quietly, "Please?" Rumplestiltskin looked slightly taken aback. "There are some people who are depending on me. I must see to them, no one else will." He sighed.

"And why should I do that, dearie?"

"Because you asked for two different things today. And I only agreed to one of them." she said quietly as they rounded a corner of the shattered hallway. He stopped in his tracks and narrowed his eyes at her.

"Did I? I _really _don't think I did." he said, his tone silky and dangerous.

"But you did. You asked for me." she replied, her voice steely as she looked up to meet his eyes. "And you asked for a caretaker." she put a finger up to still him. "And I am not known for those qualities that make a caretaker. Quite the opposite in fact. I am...troublesome. Willful. Stubborn, even." She gave him her very best "don't cross me" look. He stared at her for a moment, his lips twitching with amusement.

"And if I give you your hour, you will be what? A _model_ caretaker?" he taunted. She pursed her lips.

"If you give me an hour, I will do my best." she said carefully, her eyes trained on his. "Please, Rumplestiltskin." She asked, very softly, her tone even, asking only for common courtesy, with the promise that she would return courtesy in kind. He rolled his eyes upwards and sighed.

"Very well. One hour. I will come to collect you, no matter where you are or what you are doing." He said, his voice a sing-song as he waggled a long finger in her face.

She closed her eyes and breathed, "Thank you." she opened them again and recaptured his gaze. "For everything." Then she turned on her heel and trotted down the hall. His eyes followed her, before he waved a hand over himself, becoming invisible.

Belle ducked into her room quickly. She snatched a ring of keys and a bulging money pouch from their hiding place behind her mirror, then grabbed a long hooded cloak which she threw over her shoulders.

She hurried back into the hall, drawing the hood up as she went. She glanced quickly both ways before racing down the narrow stairs which led to the dungeons. The guards had left their posts long before to help man the outer walls in preparation for Rumplestiltskin's visit, and she met no one on her way down. She sent a silent prayer of thanks for small miracles.

She raced down the dank hall, torchlight guttering and cloak billowing until she reached the last cage. A russet haired woman was folded in on herself in a corner of the tiny cell. She looked up as Belle approached.

"Belle!" she exclaimed, jumping gracefully to her feet. "What are you...how...how did you escape?!" she stammered in shock as Belle fumbled the key in the lock and shook her head.

"There's no time. Come, we must get you into the forest before they think to look for you." she finally got the key in correctly, and the door swung open. The women embraced quickly, but pulled apart as Belle made a strangled sound and clung to the door, putting a hand to her ribs, trying to catch her breath in her tight corset.

"I see they trussed you up properly." her sister sniggered. Belle glared at her and handed her a tiny dagger she slipped from a hidden pocket of her voluminous gown.

"Oh, gods," she gasped, "Just get it off...get it off!" she hissed, a note of hysteria creeping into her voice. Honoria lost no time snatching free the laces of her gown to reveal the tight corset underneath. She expertly slit through the corset ties and slid the offending garment off. Belle held the dress up, breathing deeply for the first time in hours as her sister laced the dress back on.

"It's a good thing you don't need that thing to keep this up." Honoria laughed.

"Ridiculous contraption." Belle muttered darkly.

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree!" A delighted voice said mockingly. They both jumped and whirled around. Belle reddened.

"Shite. Sorry, I forgot about him." Honoria said, indicating the grinning man dressed in forest green in the cell next to hers. He pouted.

"Forgot me!? And I thought we were getting on so well." he waggled his eyebrows at the taller woman, who rolled her eyes. His eyes turned serious. "But, please, mistresses, I would much appreciate it if you would release me. I have much to attend to."

Belle looked at Honoria, who sighed and snatched the keys from her sister, opening his door. It was Belle's turn to roll her eyes.

"Follow us and do exactly as we say if you want to get out of here alive." Belle said curtly, turning and trotting back up the hallway. "Time is short."

Honoria and the man followed silently, snatching up swords from the rack behind the guards station and buckling them on as they went. Belle led them through a maze of narrow corridors, broken walls and fetid alleyways, until in a surprisingly short time they reached the outer walls.

She went directly into the stable yard of a tiny inn directly against the outer walls, where two golden horses waited, fine blankets thrown over their backs to ward off the chill, their tack thrown over the shared side of their stalls.

Honoria looked at the man and pointed her chin at Belle's gelding as she pulled her saddle from its perch. He wordlessly grabbed the other saddle. Belle went to a corner of one of the stalls and dug in the straw until she pulled up two sets of saddlebags and a gittern. She handed a bag to each of them, following Honoria's saddlebag with the gittern wrapped in the cloak she'd been wearing.

"Father." she said, by way of explanation at Honoria's raised eyebrow. "There are supplies and gold enough to see you to safety. It's liable to get chilly tonight, use the cloak." she said, fussing with the seam of her skirts.

Honoria froze, her hand on her horses rump as she tied the saddlebag to the saddle. She turned slowly.

"You're not coming." she stated, her voice tight. Belle looked at her and swallowed.

"I cannot." she whispered. "I'm sorry, Honoria."

"The guards said father called for Rumplestiltskin." Honoria said, slowly, warily. Belle nodded, and then suddenly smiled.

"Yes. He _came. _We're safe." she said, unable to keep the relief from her voice. Honoria closed her eyes, breathing deeply.

"And his price?" she asked. Belle took her sister's hands and forced her to look at her.

"All he asked for was a caretaker for his estate." she said. "I've agreed to go with him...forever."

"Of course you did." Honoria stated flatly, tears in her eyes. Belle put her hand to her sister's face.

"Honoria, look around! Our town is in ruins." She stated softly. "More than that, they destroyed the farms on their way here, soon food will be short. We lost so many people today..." She closed her eyes, staggering slightly as a wave of dizziness shook her body. Honoria grabbed her arms.

"Belle! Are you all right?" she cried. Belle opened her eyes and blushed.

"Sorry. I'll be fine. It's just..." she sighed as she finally admitted to her sister what she had denied to all others. "I've not been permitted food or rest since they locked you in the dungeons." Honoria gasped, looking outraged.

"Surely father would..."

"Yes, he would have, but what would that have accomplished except to split the council into factions? The eve of our destruction is the worst time for us to turn on one another. I would not distract him." Belle interrupted. "Once we'd seen to the wounded, and they'd locked you up, they trussed me in this ridiculous dress and imprisoned me in the throne room. They planned to wed me tonight, before we could escape again. They never believed he would come, and they intended to cement the alliance before father could find another way out of it."

"We should never have come back! Those ungrateful fools! They'd be dead already if it weren't for the warning we carried back with us!" Honoria hissed angrily. Belle held up a hand to still her.

"Come on, Honoria. You didn't hesitate to turn around any more than I did. If you didn't know what we were giving up, I certainly did. I knew if I came back my freedom was forfeit. Father would have been able to get you out, but...well." she closed her eyes and swallowed.

"None of that matters now. Avonlea has fallen. The ogres have ridden hard in this direction since it did. They can't be more than 3 leagues off, and not just a single squad this time, but an entire legion, and us already severely weakened. I...didn't expect any of us to see the dawn." She looked up to meet her sister's eyes at last, her next words coming stronger.

"There would have been no escape this time. Without his aid, all of us, every last man, woman, and child, would be naught but a bloody stain upon these stones – a sad tale told in hushed whispers of yet another kingdom ground to dust beneath the heel of the ogre invasion." She looked down again as she whispered.

"It is not so great a price." Honoria winced and ran a finger along her sister's strong jaw.

"Brave, brave Belle" she whispered. "Always sacrificing your own happiness." She took a shuddering breath. Belle smiled sadly.

"Happy endings aren't for the likes of me anyway." she said. "Disobediant, willful, and independent princesses don't get happily ever afters – they get burned at stakes. And as much fun as the stake sounds, I think I'll take my chances with the imp." she chuckled weakly, but Honoria jerked back.

"That's not funny, Belle!" Honoria threw her hands up. "Strange girl. How can you make jokes at a time like this! Sometimes I think you're _trying_ to get yourself killed, you're so reckless!" she said, her breath hitching.

"Don't think I don't know that you've thought about it! I _know _you, Belle! I think I'm the only one who does!" she took a step closer to her sister.

"I have kept all your secrets, sister. But I have lived in terror every moment. I wake from nightmares where they've burned you, beaten you, stoned you..." she sobbed as she trailed off.

"I've never asked you to stop, I've never asked you to be less than who you are, because I know you can't. Or won't." she took a shuddering breath, and closed to her eyes to the stunned expression on Belle's face.

"Just don't...don't _try _to get yourself killed, Belle." Belle's jaw twitched and she immediately looked shamefaced.

"I'm sorry. For everything. I didn't mean for things to happen this way." she whispered. "I've as little wish to die as anyone else, you must believe me Honoria." she continued softly. "But father would have sacrificed every soul here rather than give me to him. And I love him for that. But it wasn't right. My life is not more valuable than the lives of our people." She said flatly. "It's done, and there is no taking it back. Please, I don't want to fight." Honoria stifled a sob, and nodded, looking her squarely in the eyes.

"Then you must be very careful, sister. You will be completely at his mercy. He might hurt you. Sorcerer's are temperamental. He might kill you for the slightest offense." Honoria said quietly. The grin slid from Belle's face and her hands trembled slightly as she brought them down to clutch at the hem of her gown and stepped back. She smiled again, grimly this time, and took a deep breath, nodding.

"Well then, it's a good day to die." she stated, her voice shaking only slightly. "I have no regrets." Honoria closed her eyes and hung her head, their childhood mantra stilling her tongue, as Belle had known it would.

"Yes." she whispered. "It is." she opened her eyes and took a deep breath of her own. She pressed her lips together, then reached out and touched Belle's necklace, her fingertips glowing faintly. She brought her fingers to her own identical necklace.

"There. Now no matter where we go in this land, we will know if the other is safe. And if he hurts you..." she said darkly. Belle shook her head.

"He won't hurt me. But thank you, dear heart."

"How can you possibly know that?"

"I...I don't know. I just..." Belle shook her head again, abruptly. "I don't, all right? I'm terrified. I _have_ to trust him or I won't be able to do this." she practically choked on the words as she spat them out. "There. I said it. I'm afraid. Are you happy now?" She trembled and Honoria wrapped her in a tight hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "You always seem so strong...sometimes I forget how much of it is just your innate mulishness." she giggled as Belle swatted her, her face still pressed into her shoulder.

"I'm not a fool." Belle whispered back. "But I made my choice. And I will make the best of it." she said, before drawing back and straightening herself up as tall as she could manage. "Now, I love you, my sister, but you must flee if you wish to escape my gilded cage. You are the only heir now, and bastard or not, the council will have you wed Sir Gaston in my place." Honoria shuddered, then nodded and quickly mounted.

"I love you too." She said, before glancing at her companion and inclining her head towards Belle's horse impatiently.

He'd been (rather uncharacteristically) silent, busying himself with preparations to allow the girls to struggle through their farewell in some semblance of privacy. Now he cleared his throat awkwardly, and dropped on one knee in front of Belle. He took her hand and pressed it to his forehead in the traditional offering of fealty in their land.

"Thank you, Princess." he murmured. "We will never forget your sacrifice, nor your mercy. If ever you are in need, my men and I will always be at your command." Belle nodded gravely as she reclaimed her hand.

"Thank you, sir...?" she said.

"Locklea. Robin of Locklea." he said, grinning at her impishly as he mounted her Philippe. "And, for the record, you can count me as a very big fan of the ridiculous dress." he called over his shoulder. She snorted her laughter, but her smile was sad as they left the stable.

"Take care of my horse, Robin Hood." she called as they galloped into the night.

She watched them go, her heart constricting so painfully in her chest that for just a moment, she could not breathe. Her face crumpled for just an instant as despair briefly overwhelmed her, but she was a stubborn willful thing after all, and she yanked herself back from the precipice as quickly as she'd careened towards it. She had one last task to complete before she met her fate.

She stood watching until she saw they had made it past the tree line. As soon as they were out of sight, she took her skirts in her hands and ran to the outskirts of the village, where a large manor house which was falling slightly to ruin stood. Slipping noiselessly around the back, she knocked on the kitchen door. A haggard, red-faced woman opened the door, flooding the small yard with light and noise. She looked as though she'd been weeping.

"Belle!" she said in surprise, "I heard..." At her name, a tiny, dark-haired boy popped up from behind the woman. Belle shook her head at the woman as she glanced at the boy.

"Belle!" he cried, grabbing her around the middle and squeezing tightly. There were children everywhere within the house, and it made Belle sad to realize just how many new orphans there were. Belle smiled and squeezed him back. He stepped back and gawped at her.

"Wow! You look like a fairy princess!" he exclaimed.

"Oh I certainly hope not," Belle chuckled darkly, "I'm not sure I shed enough glitter. And what an awful mess to clean up if I did!" He giggled a little.

"You don't like fairies?" he asked, cocking his small head to the side as he studied her curiously. She shook her head. He was a quick one.

"It's not that I don't like them, really. I just don't trust them is all." she told him. His eyebrows shot up.

"But...why not? Fairies are good, they help people with their magic." he asked. She bit her lip.

"Yeeesss..." she said slowly, "but what is the first rule of magic, William?" she asked. It was his turn to bite his lip as he thought hard. She took pity on him.

"All magic comes with a price." she answered for him. "Everyone knows this. But fairies...fairies don't always tell you the price of the magical help they give. There must be one. Though they work with the best of intentions, their help is not always in the best interests of the person they are "helping"." she grinned as his mouth made a little "o".

"Have you heard of Jiminy Cricket?" she asked him. He nodded. "Well, _I _heard that a fairy turned him into a cricket so he could be free of his parent's life." she paused for effect. "A _cricket._" she stated baldly. "Now, can you truly tell me that being changed into an _insect _was the best option a grown man had to escape his parents?" she shook her head, and screwed up her face in distaste. "So, I wouldn't trust a fairy's judgment." William giggled at the expression on her face.

"Ok, maybe not a fairy. But you look like a princess anyway!" he grinned as she smiled at him.

"Imagine that." she said, her eyes dancing with amusement. She tore her gaze from the young boy to greet the old woman properly.

"Hello Mama Hubbard." she said, pulling her pouch of gold from her pocket. She quickly pressed it into her hands.

"Thank you, my Lady!" she gasped. Belle smiled.

"It's all I can do, I'm afraid." she said sadly. "I won't be able to do more, I'll be leaving soon and I won't be returning this time. Make it last." the woman clutched her hands tightly, her eyes glittering with tears.

"So it's true then." she whispered. The boy looked devastated.

"You're going away?!" he cried, looking crestfallen. "Don't you like us anymore?" she took his hands.

"Of course I like you William! I _must_ go, I have to protect you from the ogres." she said, tickling him and smiling as if such a thing was an everyday occurrence.

"I'm not scared of ogres!" he declared. "I'll fight them, like you." Her face fell, and she took a deep breath before dropping to her knees, heedless of the dirt on her gown. She hugged him fiercely.

"No, William," she said. "Don't even think it. No, there are too many of them, and they're brutally strong."

"I'm not afraid! I'll be brave, I can..." Belle put her finger over his lips, stilling him.

"You are brave, William. But ogres are not men. Fighting them on their terms is folly. It's suicide. And that's not bravery, darling. Bravery is doing the right thing, the smart thing, even when it's very hard, or frightening. Even if it makes you shamed or despised." she turned him around and pointed to the red flush in the night sky that never went away.

"You see that red in the sky? That's not the glorious fires of battle. That's the blood of our people. The blood of _children_." she shook her head sadly. "No, this slaughter ends. Tonight. The _right_ way. A great magic will be performed tonight, and it will save us all. And great magic requires a great price, because that is the way the world stays in balance. Tonight I will pay that price," she stood, pulling gently away from the boy.

"And you will grow up in a peaceful land and get married and make lots of babies for Maman to dote on." She took the old woman's hands.

"Take care of them, Maman. I must go." she whispered. The other woman nodded through her tears, then pulled a small goat cheese wrapped in fragrant basil leaves from her pocket and pressed it into Belle's hand.

"Lottie said you've been neglecting yourself again." she said. Belle shook her head and tried to give it back.

"No, Maman, save it for the children. There's little enough to be had at any price." she said, though her stomach constricted just at the smell of the delicious cheese. Maman shook her head vehemently.

"Tis small enough repayment for all you've done for us. Take it you stubborn girl. You're going to need your strength." she snapped waspishly. Belle leaned forward impulsively and pulled the old woman into a hug.

"If I'm stubborn you taught me to be." she laughed weakly, before continuing softly, "Thank you for thinking of me."

"Be safe, Princess." Maman choked, releasing her. Belle nodded, gave William one last hug, then slipped away quietly around the front of the house.

Lost in her own thoughts, she didn't notice that her steps had begun to weave dangerously until she stumbled on a cobble and fell to her hands and knees. She stayed where she was as waves of dizziness and disorientation rocked her body.

She really had been too long without food and sleep, she realized with alarm. She dragged herself over to the manor's well and pulled herself up, trembling violently. Her fingers found the bucket, and she drank deeply, grateful beyond telling that it had been left full. The water hit her empty stomach and spread cold chills throughout her body that slowly cut through the fog of disorientation.

Slumping against the side of the well, she pulled out her cheese. She turned it in her hand, then brought it up to her nose and inhaled deeply. She adored the smell of fresh basil. Her mouth watered uncontrollably, and she devoured it quickly, sucking her fingers greedily, her eyes closed blissfully.

Satisfied and feeling significantly less faint, she sank to the ground as gracefully as she could manage and tilted her head back to gaze up at the stars. She had only a few moments left of freedom, and she would spend them under the open sky.

Behind her, a bit of the shadow cast by the manor separated itself from the rest and slipped silently after her.


	2. Chapter 2 So Much More

******Chapter Two**

Rumplestiltskin glared out of the shadows at his prize. He'd allowed her cursed hour to learn her secrets, to taunt and mock and punish her for her insolence. This was not meant to happen this way. He did not want to _like _her.

He wanted her to be spoiled, weak, sobbing, making frantic escape plans or engaging in some form of deceit or treachery to get her out of the deal she'd made this night. Whispers of the great beauty King Maurice had kept hidden away in the country had reached his ears, and he'd only thought how pleasant it would be to bring such a renowned noblewoman down so low. No doubt she thought herself too fine to work, allowed peasants to wait on her hand and foot and thought it only her due. He did love to bring the mighty low, and to elevate the base. Look how far he'd come after all, former peasant spinner that he was.

She was not meant to be _noble _about it. She was not meant to be, of all things, _grateful. _She was certainly not meant to be intelligent, and strong, and kind, and brave...he abruptly broke that chain of thought as the list of her virtues grew longer. She represented a tantalizing mystery, one he found himself irresistibly drawn to unravel.

Her words had stabbed at his heart, a haunting echo of his own words so very long ago. And when she looked fearlessly into his eyes, he couldn't help the feeling that she saw right past his mask and directly at _him. _He couldn't deny she _was _thin and pale, and that violent trembling- the result of too little food and too much work, it was an achingly familiar part of any poverty-stricken peasant's life. It angered him in a way he didn't wish to dwell on that such things were part of _her _life, even briefly.

He shook his head. No, this was in all likelihood an act. She was intelligent, she probably knew he'd be watching her, hoping he'd go soft and let her wrap him around her little finger the way she doubtless had everyone around her wrapped up. He'd almost rushed to her side when she'd collapsed on the ground for gods sake! Couldn't have the woman clouding his judgement already. No, he would see how noble she was when she found herself treated like a peasant maid. Then she would show her true colors. And it was time to collect his prize and find out what those colors were.

"You can't just leave me in here!" Belle called in frustration at the closed door. The only answer she got was a mad giggle. She glared at the door. How was she supposed to take care of his estate from in here?She rested her forehead against the wooden door and closed her eyes. She was dizzy again, and the room spun around her even with her eyes closed. Alarmed, she realized she could no longer feel her body, the only sensation now was vertigo. _I wonder if this is what dying feels like, s_he thought as she slid to the floor and allowed darkness to overtake her.

"Show me the girl." he barked at the hand-held mirror. The glass fogged momentarily, then cleared to show the girl collapsed on the stone floor of the dungeon, clearly having fallen where she stood, her gold dress pooled around her.

He cursed. He'd expected her to be weeping, or railing against him or huddled on the stone bench in quiet dejection. She'd seemed so full of energy as she'd trotted behind him, and then yelled at him indignantly through the door. He wondered idly just how long she'd been without sleep.

He'd not bothered to discover much about her before this, aside from what he'd discovered by following her after the deal had been struck. In truth he'd not cared, nor thought for an instant that she'd be different from any other spoiled princess he'd ever met. It hadn't seemed worth wasting the magical energy to find out more about her. The mirror in particular extracted a heavy price each time it was used for anything but viewing the present. But now he found himself needing to know.

"Show me how she was brought to this state." he said softly, placing a single strand of her hair on the mirror's surface before bracing himself for the draining that would come. The mirror flared, absorbing the hair, then fogged again before clearing to reveal a tidy cottage on the edge of a forest. He recognized it as the caretaker's cottage on the grounds of the orphanage she'd visited that night.

___Belle stood before a table covered in messy piles and scraps of parchment. She scratched notes out furiously with one hand, while her other traced down the lines of a large tome sitting on the table. She was so deeply absorbed in what she was doing that the sudden knock at the door caused her to jump and drop her quill. She looked around wildly, her hand at her heart._

___She glanced down at her clothes in dismay. She was wearing tight riding trousers and a loose shirt, clothing that was comfortable to work and move in, her hair in a tail at the base of her neck to keep it out of her face while she worked._

___The knocking came again, more insistent this time. She peeked through the spyhole in the door, and bit off a soft curse. __****__**Gaston**____. She quickly cleared the table of papers, hastily shoving them and the book in a concealed drawer of the table._

___She ran to her bedroom and snatched a loose blue dress from the clothes hook, pulling it on over her head right over the top of her other clothes and tying it behind her. The shirt would pass for a proper blouse, and the dress was long enough to conceal the trousers. She walked out to the front room, and pulled open the door._

_"____Gaston!" she said., "What a pleasant surprise." she stepped back as he pushed his way past her into the room, flashing her what she was sure he thought was a dashing smile. She plastered a forced smile on her face. He didn't seem to notice how forced it was._

_"____Isn't it though?" he said, waggling his eyebrows at her. She quirked her mouth in a genuine smile as she laughed at him. She moved to the fire._

_"____Can I offer you some tea?" she said politely, struggling to squash her growing resentment at the interruption and not betray how badly she wanted him to leave and let her get back to what she'd been doing. He scoffed._

_"____No, Belle, thank you." he sneered, his feelings on the subject of tea clear on his face. She raised her eyebrows. He turned on her suddenly, trapping her against the mantle as he leaned close to her. She hissed in indignation, her hands bunching into fists. She kept herself still with a great force of will as he stroked her jaw with one of his rough fingers. _

___"You're so beautiful." he breathed. She pressed herself into the mantle as far as she could, struggling to keep her teeth from grinding together. She ducked under his arm and spun away from him before she did something they'd both regret._

_"____And you've been drinking. Awfully early isn't it? Why are you here, Gaston?" she asked. He gave her another dashing smile, undeterred by her escape as he stalked closer to her again. She moved away slowly, keeping the table between them this time._

_"____I'm here to make your dreams come true." he said, grinning. She looked at him incredulously._

_"____What do __****__**you**__****____know about my dreams?" she scoffed, tiring of this game. His grin slid from his face at her tone. Defeated, he slumped into one of the kitchen chairs, finally turning off the fake charm and turning serious._

_"____You used to be a lot more fun." he stated._

_"____That was before I knew you so well." she replied tartly. "Now, please, I'm busy. Why are you here, half drunk at midday?" she asked. He looked away from her._

_"____Your father has allowed you to decide whom you will marry, yet you have refused every suitor who's ever come to claim your hand since you were sixteen." he stated without preamble. "The council, and my father in particular, feel that it is far past time you were married. You are a rare beauty, Belle, but you are getting too old to remain unmarried."_

_"____And why should I marry anyone at all? Just to be married?" she asked quietly. "Appearances mean little to me, when all is said and done. Why should I risk an early death in childbed for a man I don't even care for, much less love? The world holds so much more. __****__**I**__****____am so much more." He looked up at her, his eyes hardening._

_"____It's time you got your nose out of those books" he gestured to the wall of tomes behind him "and started thinking about more important things. You are your father's heir, and your father has graciously ____allowed you to choose the man who will rule this realm after him. But if you refuse to choose an heir, than the council feels well within their rights to..."_

_"____Your __****__**father**____, you mean." she interrupted, glaring at him furiously. He sighed._

_"____My father has the council's full support in this. You can't sit out here playing at being a peasant forever. You're a __****__**princess**____." he snapped._

_"____And you wish to be a prince, is that it?" she snapped back. He put his head in his hands._

_"____Please, Belle, this isn't how I wanted to do this." He looked at her and sighed. "I am asking you to choose me." he stood and stepped to her, taking her hands gently._

_"____I will be a good husband, I promise. I care for you. You have to know that. Please don't make us force you. Do what's right for everybody. My family's wealth and lands will bring only prosperity. An alliance between our family's will be to everyone's benefit." he brought her hand to his lips. She sighed, and gently took her hand back._

_"____Gaston." she said. "I care about you, too. Don't think I don't. We've been friends for a very long time. But after all this time, you still have no idea who I am. What I am capable of. I would make you miserable." she stated flatly. he looked at her long and hard._

_"____Then tell me. What are you capable of, little Belle?" he asked, his lips twitching in the barest suggestion of a smirk. She narrowed her eyes at him, before answering his smirk with her own._

_"____I see people." she said simply. "I see who they really are, under the masks they show the world. Everyone wears masks. Most people never bother to look beneath them. I do. I know. Call it a gift, but truly I just pay attention. Have you never noticed?" she crooked a grin at him. "I am quite extraordinary." He scoffed, leaning against the table._

_"____Modest, too." he said. "Do you see me, Belle?" he waggled his eyebrows. She chuckled._

_"____Indeed." she said. "Every bit of you. I see your future too. I see you shackled to a woman more scholar than wife, with very little interest in the things that you find amusing, whose ideas and tongue would only embarrass you and cause trouble." she looked at him sadly for a moment before continuing with forced brightness,_

_"____But I will save you from that unenviable fate. I __****__**am**__****____quite intelligent, you know, though I don't blame you for not noticing that. It's not like there's a plethora of scholarly minds to compare me to around here." she grinned. He smiled and shook his head._

_"____Oh, Belle. You are far too beautiful to be wasted as a scholar." he said. The grin slid from her face and she sighed, deciding to approach the matter from a different direction._

_"____Gaston," she put a hand to his collar. "I've cherished your friendship. But the council...your father...is __****__**wrong**____. We don't __****__**need **____to make an alliance marriage. We are plenty prosperous as it is. The trade routes are well secured all the way to the endless sea, and new ones are being opened up as we speak. The very best alliance our small kingdom can make is to merge with my cousin Philip's kingdom. Together we will be stronger than either of us could be alone. I am __****__**not**__****____a fool, Gaston. I ____**have **____thought about this. I know what this is really about." his eyes narrowed._

_"____And what's that?" he asked peevishly. She sighed._

_"____Greed and avarice." she stated, "And that is no foundation for a marriage, even a state marriage. I'm __****__**happy**__****____to let the realm go to my cousin after my father's death. I have no interest in being Queen. And frankly, your father frightens me. I would not have him so close to regency." she closed her eyes. "I fear for you, as well as for myself."_

_"____Oh, don't start that again!" he interrupted, exasperated.. "You've always hated my father, but you go too far, this time, Belle." he threw his hands in the air."This vendetta you have against my father must stop! It's paranoid, he would never do the things you accuse him of! I warn you, have a care the insinuations you make about my family..." Belle took a step towards him, her back straight and her face set._

_"____What happened to your mother, Gaston?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. For a scant moment, he looked like she'd slapped him. The look was quickly replaced with an almost murderous rage, and she stepped back, putting the table between them once again. She continued coldly,_

_"____I have not chosen a husband because I have yet to have a suitor who would make a better king than my cousin Philip, and he can succeed to the throne without me having to marry him. Leaving me in the rare and rather envious position of being free to choose my own fate. Which I am doing whether you like it or not."_

___Gaston heaved a few deep breaths, struggling to contain his fury before stomping to the door and yanking it open. He turned to her again, more composed._

_"____The council will not allow you to sacrifice the realm's sovereignty, Belle." he said, just as coldly. "This is __****__**going**__****____to happen. Your father can't overrule the entire council. Just make things easy on yourself. On your father." It was her turn to glare furiously._

_"__****__**If **____I marry, it will be for love, to someone with the brains to see what is going on right under his own nose, or at least the wit to listen to one who does!" she snapped. He shook his head, matching her glare for glare._

_"____Stubborn, willful woman! I'm warning you, Belle. Don't fight this. Don't humiliate me. They've had this in the planning too long to be stopped now." he said, venting his feelings by slamming the door forcefully behind him._

___Belle stared at the door, then down at her hands, which were shaking, much to her obvious surprise. For a moment she studied their trembling as though she'd never seen them before. She glared at her shaking hands, and then at the hapless door._

_"____I want so much more than they've got planned." she whispered._

The mirror fogged out before a coming into focus in a stable in the gray light of dawn.

___Belle tightened the saddle around the girth of her pale gelding, back in her men's clothing. She had a pair of swords strapped to her back, and a long knife at her side. Maurice stood behind her, watching her sadly. Honoria was strapping her gittern to her saddlebags, a bow and full quiver slung on her back and a sword on her hip. Maurice cleared his throat, tears in his eyes. Both girls turned at the sound. They looked at each other, then embraced their father as one._

_"____Thank you, papa." Belle whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. Honoria sniffed, tears flooding her eyes._

_"____Goodbye, papa." she said. "I'll take care of her, don't worry." He looked at her sadly and stroked her hair._

_"____I know you will, my girl." he turned to Belle._

_"____The ship is waiting at Avonlea. It's already loaded, it's just waiting on you two. The crew is loyal to me, you'll be safe with them." He straightened himself. "Follow the silk route. I'll trust your judgement in the trading of my cargo, but I'd advise sticking to spices and away from dyes and textiles. No need to ruffle any feathers- the dye and silk trade can be ruthless." he stepped forward and stroked her cheek._

_"____You're sure you don't want to just marry Gaston? He is a handsome fellow, after all." he chuckled as she snorted._

_"____I won't be traded like a bolt of cloth, father. Besides" she quirked her mouth sadly. "Once I'd produced an heir for his royal handsomeness...I'm rather certain my life would be unceremoniously foreshortened." her father's eyes hardened._

_"____Aye, I mislike Senior Gaston's motives in this whole affair. My ears in their household have heard very troubling things. I'm afraid you're right, my dear." he sighed and thinned his lips._

_"____It's a very good thing we're none of us the bloody fools they seem to think us. As much as I'd like to keep you close, I think you're safer disappearing for a time. And a trip to the orient is just the thing, I think." Belle beamed at him, her eyes sparkling with excitement._

_"____I love you, papa." She hugged him again. "I'm so lucky to have a father like you." He smiled at her sadly._

_"____Be cautious, my girl. In fact, I'd advise you go masked. Your beauty will not be an asset to you out in the world. It's a pity you'd never pass as a boy, the way your sister can." he glanced over at Honoria, who was already tucking her long hair up into a cap, completing her "young merchant lord" look. She mock glared at him. He chuckled and chucked her under the chin, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. He sighed again as they mounted their matched golden horses._

_"____Fare well, my Honor, my Beauty." he said sadly, as his daughters rode away into the forest._

The mirror fogged again, then opened up to a bluff overlooking the ocean, the sun low on the horizon painting the sky in brilliant pinks and oranges.

___Belle and Honoria rode up to the edge of the bluff. They dismounted quickly. A large city spread out to the east. The ocean pounded the base of the cliff to the south. Honoria pointed out to sea. A large ship with blue striped sails rested at anchor._

_"____There it is!" she cried. "Come on, we'll find the captain in Avonlea, at the Prancing Pony Inn." she said. Belle threw her head back and laughed. She threw her arms out and spun in place, laughing in the wind. Honoria grinned to see her so happy, so free._

___Belle turned suddenly to face her, but her grin quickly slid from her face as she faced the forest._

_"____Honoria..." she breathed, unsheathing her blades as she spoke. Honoria whipped around, had an arrow knocked before she even saw what had caught her sister's eye. Three ogres stood in the trees, watching them with horrible grins on their green faces. She cursed softly._

_"____They outnumber us, but we're faster, more agile."Honoria whispered through gritted teeth. "Stand your ground until the last moment, and then – dance. Just like we practiced. Get them between us and the bluff." Belle nodded, her eyes wide._

___They stood staring each other down across the meadow for one long moment, before the ogres uttered blood curdling roars and charged straight for them, their speed shocking for their size._

___One of Honoria's arrows struck the middle ogre in the shoulder, staggering him slightly but barely slowing him down. Her second went straight through his eye, felling him practically at her feet. As one, they leapt to the side, rolling and coming up behind the remaining two, Belle swinging her swords in front of her in deadly arcs, driving them back towards the cliff._

___Honoria leapt out of the way as the ogre brought his heavy mace down where she'd been standing. Quick as a ferret, she used her momentum to roll up under him, bringing her sword up as she did so. Before he had time to register his danger, he was neatly gutted, vile bits of him spilling out onto her sword._

___He howled in pain, collapsing on top of her as she tried to jerk her sword free to roll out of the way. She only made it part way before his dead body pinned her legs beneath her. She struggled under him, inching and wriggling out from beneath him._

___She looked up in time to see Belle dodge a heavy blow from the remaining ogre. Somehow they'd ended up much closer to the bluff, but Belle was on the wrong side, her back to the bluff again. She watched as her sister dashed in and out of striking range, her dual swords a blur as she sliced and stabbed and rolled to avoid heavy fists and the studded mace._

___With her heart in her mouth, she watched as Belle was driven back towards the bluff. Honoria could tell she was tiring, and quickly. The enraged ogre braced himself and swung his mace above his head for the final blow that would send Belle over the cliff. She saw the moment her sister saw her own death coming, and gasped at the mad light that came into her eyes._

___Belle charged him full speed, a harsh yell ripping from her lips. At the last second she threw herself backwards and slid beneath the ogre's spread legs as the mace smashed down into the earth where's she'd been standing, sod and dirt exploding around it. She jumped to her feet, spun, and kicked with all her might, sending the ogre careening over the cliff with a harsh yell that echoed up to them as he fell, but ended abruptly with a sickening crunch._

___Belle stood looking over the cliff at what she'd done, her chest heaving, her sword tips dragging in the grass, stray hair whipping across her face._

_"____Belle!" Honoria cried. Belle whipped around, seeming to come back to herself all at once. She ran to her sister at once and helped her roll the dead ogre off of her bruised body. Fortunately, Honoria had managed to avoid getting anything more disgusting than blood on her clothes. She grinned at her sister._

_"____Not too shabby little sister. Completely reckless, of course. But not too bad for your first blood" she examined Belle more closely, her sharp eyes looking for signs of injury. She raised her eyebrows. "Not even a scratch on you. __****__**Very**__****____impressive."_

_"____Complete and utter terror makes me fast, apparently." Belle replied sardonically. She looked over at the dead ogres and paled. She dropped to her hands and knees, retching violently into the grass. Honoria rubbed her back in little circles until the heaving subsided._

_"____Better?" she asked, handing her a flask of clean water. Belle nodded, swishing the water around in her mouth before spitting it into the grass._

_"____What the __****__**hell**__****____are ogres doing here!?" she cried indignantly. Honoria looked at her soberly._

_"____I don't know. But I think we need to find out. They couldn't have come from too far away. Are you up for some scouting?" she asked, peering into the trees as true night descended on them._

Rumplestiltskin began to feel the cost of the magic draining him more than he liked, and nudged the images to go faster.

The mirror fogged once again, and cleared to show the two women bent low over their mounts, riding full out as though pursued by demons in the grey light of another dawn. The sky behind them was painted a very familiar angry red. An ogre head was strapped to the back of the taller one's saddle.

There was an uproar at the gate as she held the head up to the guards at the gate. The effect was rather like hitting a hornets nest with a stick. Men came boiling out from everywhere.

The mirror fogged and flashed to mid morning, as hundreds of ogres descended on the hastily defended town. They poured through, reigning destruction on the little town.

The mirror flashed in and out, showing Belle surrounded by guards fighting in the streets, Belle running with her sister into the keep, fighting alongside her father in the throne room, Belle trudging wearily among rows and rows of injured and wounded, Honoria always nearby, cauterizing, washing, bandaging, whispering soft words of encouragement.

The mirror flashed to another dawn shining through the large windows of the decimated great hall. Belle and Honoria slumped against the wall amongst the wounded. They looked up wearily as a troupe of guards approached, led by a severe looking older man. They jumped to their feet, rage flashing across their faces as the guards seized them both, dragging Honoria one way and Belle another.

Rumplestiltskin put the mirror down slowly. He'd seen enough. He knew what had happened next from the girl's own words. They'd taken her sister to the dungeons, and put her in that golden fantasy of a dress, before calling on him for aid. He'd counted three dawns since she'd slept. It had been sunset when their deal had been struck, and it was now well into the night.

He sighed. The girl had clearly not been acting. She was everything she'd seemed to be- strong, noble, brave, kind...She'd had a hellish few days, ending by collapsing in a monster's dungeon after having reached the very limits of her endurance. Suddenly his plans to mock and torment her seemed the very epitome of cruel and senseless.

He was struck by the sudden realization that he had won for himself a rare treasure in Belle. And he had always been careful with his treasures. He stood abruptly.


End file.
